Preeclampsia: What Pregnant Women Must Know

This week we are adding a new & important informational page to our website on Preeclampsia or Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension (PIH). It is crucial that all pregnant women stay up to date on warning signs, symptoms, and treatment options of this potentially fatal condition. Preeclampsia and its eventual consequence, Eclampsia, can result in severe permanent injury and/or death for both mother and baby. To help promote our new page, you can read on for its quick summary below for this edition of our Med Mal Blog.

Preeclampsiais a complication of pregnancy which generally develops in the 2nd trimester or later and is characterized by high blood pressure and problems with the organs. The best way to treat Preeclampsia is to induce delivery. Thus, the earlier it develops in a pregnancy, the more dangerous the situation can become for a premature fetus. Doctors will try to keep the fetus in the womb for as long as is safe for the carrying mother.

When preeclampsia is not monitored and treated promptly, it will eventually develop into eclampsia, which will cause seizures, organ failure, permanent heart problems, and even death for both mother and baby. Regardless of the age of the fetus, if eclampsia develops, induction will be performed to try and save the pregnant patient.

Preeclampsia can occur in any pregnant woman although there are certain risk factors involved that heighten the risk of developing its characteristic hypertension. Age, obesity, and chronic medical conditions are just a few known risk factors for preeclampsia. Signs and symptoms include but are not limited to consistently high blood pressure, nausea, headaches, vision problems, sudden swelling / weight gain, and kidney issues.

All prenatal care OBGYN’s, their staff, and other maternal fetal medicine specialists should be well aware of the various risk factors and warning signs of preeclampsia. Any pregnant woman found to be at higher risk of preeclampsia or at all symptomatic should be closely monitored with frequent prenatal care visits by a high-risk doctor. Most of the time, eclampsia can be prevented once a healthcare provider becomes aware of the warning signs of preeclampsia during a pregnancy. Unfortunately, some pregnant women are not diagnosed with preeclampsia in a timely manner and end up developing eclampsia. To read more about common mistakes made in managing Preeclampsia or Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension (PIH) and preventing Eclampsia, visit our Preeclampsia page.

NJ medical malpractice attorneys Weiss & Paarz have been recovering for victims and families of victims of medical malpractice and undiagnosed or untreated preeclampsia/eclampsia for decades. Although our attorneys cannot prevent these tragedies from occurring, they can help to alleviate the resulting financial and emotional burdens through achieving compensation for afflicted families. If you or someone you love has been permanently or fatally injured by untreated preeclampsia, call our office today at 1-800-952-8444. Because our attorneys believe that personal finances should never be the determining factor in one’s decision to file a lawsuit, they work on what’s known as contingency. In other words, our clients do not pay any fees unless we recovery money for them. To read more about our no recovery, no fee policy visit our contingency page.